The Spy Who Wasn't - Clarifying Competitive Intelligence

What is competitive intelligence (CI)?

A nuanced understanding of the marketplace in which you and your competitors are situated? Yes.

Corporate espionage? No.

August Jackson was first introduced to the field at MCI, where he led a nascent CI effort. Jackson has since had CI roles with British Telecom, Verizon, and now Ernst & Young. He is a firm believer in following a systematic approach to gathering competitive intelligence.

Get Competitive Context. Listen To Learn:

What is competitive intelligence?
How this research can help you anticipate your rival’s next move.
The difference between competitor intelligence and competitive intelligence.
How to build an ethical competitive intelligence practice.
Personality traits that make for a great CI analyst.
How to conduct an effective pricing analysis.

Notable Quotes:

“With a good strategic pricing analysis program, you can get something that’s even better than if you had the competitor’s price book.” – August Jackson
“A good pricing intelligence program will give you a very clear sense of what your competitors are likely to do in these situations. So, you can adapt and develop strategies that allow you to get out ahead of that.” – August Jackson
“Everyone will be surprised to learn just how willing people are to talk to someone, and I’ve never found the need, even remotely, to pretend to be anyone else other than who I am.” – August Jackson